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When did you Last Change an Opinion?

What type of cell phone do you have? Are you an Android or Mac user? Windows?

Do you have strong feelings about why you use these products?

I do.

I’m an Apple user for phone, computer, tablet, and I think it is the only way to go. I have my reasons why this is my preference, but I am not here to sell you on Apple.

The point is I have a strong opinion about my preference. Chances are you do as well.

This is the conundrum we face when converting people into customers. We need them to change an opinion and move them into our way of thinking.

We want them to change an opinion, habits, or even their beliefs about what our company stands for. This is a path that you need to move someone through.

As you ask someone to change their product or opinion, it is a good to begin by asking yourself. What product or opinion have you changed lately?

Can we ask our customers to change an opinion?

Chances are good that you have either used a new product, switched to a new product, or changed an opinion sometime in the last year. What did this process look like for you?

Was your first stop online research? Ask a friend what product they used? Did your current product make you angry with a design change? Or did a Sales Representative approach you through a cold call?

Asking these questions about your own process can help identify the possible process a new customer is going to go through.

It is important to understand how you change products, change an opinion, or change beliefs. After all, if you expect anybody else to change an opinion, and either you haven’t changed or don’t know how you changed, it is wrong to ask another person to change.

Everybody’s process of change is different. But it happens a lot in business, where we need to bring someone to our way of thinking. We may need to close a big account by converting them from a competing product. Or change an internal company process from something outdated to something more modern and productive.

What motivates a change?

The common question is, what will motivate the change? That’s why we need to ask ourselves what is our process and what is the internal struggle we experience to bring ourselves to make a change.

After internal reflection in finding what motivates a change, we can then understand the magnitude of what we are asking our prospect and colleagues to do.

A change is not a small request, but a large, daunting, and at times risky proposition.

We are asking someone to move from the safety of the status quo to a place of the unknown. Opening this person up to possible regret, buyers remorse, and potential increased costs.

These are the considerations we need to have before being able to convert someone.